Benefits of Franchising

The greatest advantage of a franchise is that is increases the chances of business success, as it's based on a proven business concept which has been tried, tested and evolved over the years.

More than 93% of franchises business succeed in the first 3 years, compared to under 10% of people going it alone.

We are here to support you and your business to be as successful as you want to be.

Using a model that works

Structure, Systems & Support

Buying into a franchise is a big decision with needs thorough research.

A franchisor should have a proven business model with clear structure and systems in place. Money should have already been spent perfecting the model.

Our business is backed by multi-award-winning Holidaysplease which was created on a £6k investment in 2002, we now turnover in excess of £30million. So, in terms of creating, and running a successful online travel agency, we know what we are talking about.

Ensure you ask what support system will be in place for you, this is key to your success. If you are new to the industry, you are going to need a lot of initial support to transition you, into the role of a travel agent, and business owner.

The franchise teams backgrounds are all in the travel industry. They have worked for some of the major brands in the industry, so you will be supported by people that know and have done the role.

Franchisees have a Business Development Executive, based at our Head Office. Their main role is to support you turning enquiries into bookings, generating revenue and profit for your business.

All our systems are built and hosted in-house, this means we are able to constantly evolve them to ensure they enable our franchisees to manage their customers and time and effectively.

We have an extensive operations manual, which details all the different areas of the role plus all of our working practices, which we bring to life in the training room.

Meet The Team

I joined the team at Holidaysplease as Non-Executive Chairman in the Summer of 2012 and am enjoying helping them to take the business forward to the next exciting level.

Last year I celebrated 50 years in the industry. Having started as a trainee with Thomas Cook I rose to become managing director, UK at the age of 36. I then became MD of the international business, comprising 54 countries. During this time I introduced the famous strap line "don't just book it, Thomas Cook it".

In 2000 I moved to become the MD of Lunn Poly and subsequently Retail Director TUI UK.

In 2004 I was appointed as CEO, Advantage Travel Centres, the largest independent travel consortium. I retired from this role in April 2013.

I was elected as the 1st chairman of ABTA in 2009 and served an unprecedented 4 year term.

In 2009 I was presented with a lifetime achievement award as well as being inducted in to the Travel Industry Hall of Fame in 2010 and also received an industry outstanding achievement award in 2012.

I am far too old to give you my complete life story but I co-founded this group of companies and have helped to build it to almost 100 people now. I am particularly proud of the staff we employ, the awards we have won and the incredible feedback that we get from customers.

I started life as a corporate lawyer buying and selling businesses and around 15 years ago I decided to throw the pinstripe suit in the bin and start my own business. My parents were more than a little shocked, especially when I went from a lawyer's salary to zero salary......overnight!

However as we are getting close to £20m of sales a year now I suppose it wasn't the worst decision I ever made.

In my spare time I love to play golf, I travel twice a year to Atlanta to pratice my skills. I've also trained to become a rescue diver. I've been lucky enough to dive in some amazing places such as the Caymen Islands and the Maldives.

Hopefully you would like to share in our journey and success and I look forward to welcoming you to the family!

After nearly 30 years working in the industry it could be said that I'm a travel veteran. The thing is I don't much care for that tag! I'm still very much young at heart as far as my enjoyment of the business goes.

My career started in sales working for Thomson Holidays in Birmingham. At 22 I was running my own High Street travel agent, and bought a second shop in 1997. Both shops achieved significant growth and in a couple of years represented a multi-Million Pound business. In 2002 I met Charles and together we co-founded luxury online travel company Holidaysplease.co.uk which, we both willingly admit, has become a business wildly beyond our initial expectations!

More than anything I take great pride from seeing people who work with us as Holidaysplease Homeworkers transform their lives and love working and supporting each of them along the way as they do so. I am massively excited about the Family Holidays Franchise opportunity we have created and can't wait to be working alongside every Franchisee as they establish and grow their own businesses. I am lucky enough to have a vast amount of experience and success in the travel business to share for sure.

With two kids in their early 20's who don't need me anymore, and the very understanding Mrs D, I now get plenty of time away from work to devote to running which I love. I recently ran the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours 54 minutes. Afterwards, I said it would be my last marathon, I suspect that this will prove not to be the case!

My role is the creation and ongoing development of the Family Holidays Franchise business, so I'm busy! What I love about my role is the variety, no two days are ever the same.

I've been in travel for over 16years. I had the travel bug at a young age so started my carear as an Apprentice and from there I have been lucky enough to work for some amazing companies such as British Airways & TUI.

I spent 10 wonderful years at TUI. The beauty was that I was able to experience a range of areas of the business, such as designing training for our Apprecticeship programme, developing a team of regional trainers to upskill our retail estate, managing a team of homeworkers who supported our virtual callcentre, managing the retail service measurement programme and desiging the look and feel of our retail stores.

I then set up a callcentre Travel Agency for Staysure specialising in travel for the over 50's.

This has really helped develop my skills and give a rounded view of the industry, all of which I'm pouring into my new role as Head of Franchise.

Outside of work my world is centred around my little boy Ethan, who is car obsessed at 2 yrs old!

Luke Western

My role is varied. I support Jo with the ongoing development of the business, but my main role is to help franchisees build thriving businesses.

I'm the main point of contact for people interested in coming on board with us, from the initial conversations right through to the training. Once you are set up I support you with marketing, website development, sales questions plus anything else you may need, so I'm here to support you at every stage of your journey.

I have a varied background mainly in sales and business development, most recently in travel.

I worked for Trailfinders managing and training sales teams in Kensington and Richmond, winning competitions along the way. I was then promoted to assistant manager in Richmond before making the move to the Midlands.

Travel has an always be a big part of my life. My wife Emma and I travelled together for 18 months around the world and try to take 2-3 holidays a year.

Outside of work I have twins, a little boy Jude and a little girl Annabelle who keep me on my toes. When they're asleep you'll find me either playing football, or squash.

I also keep busy in my workshop making all sorted of things from woodwork, metalwork and painting. Most recently I've been working on sculptures made with recycled wire. So I like to keep myself busy.

Luke

Jenna Mccullagh

My role is to help and support new franchisees. Coach and direct them to help convert their bookings.

I have been in the travel industry for 18 years; Travel is something I am very passionate about and enjoy. For the 18 years, I have always been a seller, I have worked for Thomas Cook and serving the most with Midcounties Coop Travel. I now have this fantastic opportunity to put my previous selling skills into good use and support the new business franchises with their businesses.

In my spare time at home, I have 3 children, who certainly keep me busy and on my toes.

Katie Duncombe

I'm Katie and have been at HQ for 7 years now. I started running the Customer Care Team, after taking a year out to bring a small person in to the world, I now work part time as an Operations Manager Aka "Katie will sort it"!

After a six month stint teaching in India, a Hospitality Management degree and another six months running away...I mean travelling South America, Australasia and Asia, I've worked in travel for 14 years. I started in a student travel agency and then moved on to set up a travel agency within a volunteer project company and eventually ran their Peru projects. Love brought me Birmingham where I worked in business travel and finally settled at Holidaysplease.

I have travelled to every continent in the world but since having my little girl Ella, far flung and luxurious holidays are a thing of the past and my latest holiday 'must haves' were a giant swimming with crazy slides, a large buffet restaurant and short flight times - there's only so much Peppa Pig the rest of the plane can take!

I absolutely love my job and colleagues around me. It brings great satisfaction knowing that we're providing an award winning service which ultimately leads to people going on holiday. Who doesn't love going on holiday!!

Jayne Johnston

I'm one of our Operations Managers which means I do a little bit of everything but my main focus is with recruitment and complaints which are strangely enough my favourite part of the job (I know it's strange!).

I've worked in travel for 10 years, I started off as an overseas rep before moving to retail and then I joined Holidaysplease in 2012.

I love everything travel related and love to visit new places. I recently got married out in Las Vegas (no Elvis unfortunately) and it was by far the craziest place I have ever visited but I loved every second, apart from the 11 hour flight with our 18 month old daughter Sienna.

Natalie O'Leary

I first joined Holidaysplease on a placement year as part of my degree, BA(Hons) Tourism Management at Bournemouth University. Once I'd qualified Holidaysplease asked me to come back and I've now worked my way up to the senior management team. At the young(ish) age of 25, it's great to be given the opportunity to lead so many exciting projects and see my own ideas implemented.

I'm in charge of our in house tour operator, which definitely keeps me busy! But in all honestly I love every minute of it. Holidaysplease is like a family to me and I love seeing it grow and evolve every day.

One to One

Training & Support

Along with our support, all our training is all one to one.

Each training session is bespoke to you and your business. The sessions are relaxed and informal, we go at a pace that suits you.

All our training is documented, so if you have questions you can refer to this at any time.